An archaeologist is a person who studies the past by analysing the material remains left behind by human activity. 

An archaeological excavation involves the systematic removal of archaeological remains for analysis and interpretation by a suitably qualified archaeologist or team of archaeologists. This type of archaeological investigation is called preservation by record.  

The earliest phase of archaeology, which chronologically includes the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age, or that period of archaeology in Ireland, prior to the advent of Christianity.

People in the Mesolithic were nomadic hunter gatherers. They made weapons and tools from stone such as flint or chert. Some artefacts are distinctive of this period, such as microliths from the early part of the Mesolithic to the larger Bann Flakes in the later Mesolithic. The Mesolithic ranged from c.7000-4000BC.

The period of time when metal working was first introduced to Ireland. People began to use bronze to make weapons and tools. Gold working also appeared during this time, with objects such as gold torcs being produced. The Bronze Age ranged from c.2400-500BC.

These monuments are built of large stones used for ceremony and burials purposes. They are named from the Greek mega

A term now in common use, but originally defined by the Register of Monuments and Places to include circular and sub-circular earthen monuments relating to various chronological periods of archaeology. It is often used to denote the presence of a ringfort.